A woman's work... housewife's rant about lazy husband goes viral

Constance Hall ranted couples not helping each other out with chores leads to "relationship cancer".

Constance Hall was frustrated that no-one ever helped her with the household chores unless she askedJohan Hansson/Flickr

An Australian mummy blogger has gone viral after ranting about not getting any help with household chores, saying the resulting silent resentment leads to "relationship cancer".

Constance Hall later revealed that her angry message seen by millions actually worked, and that her husband Denim Cooke, who she only married last month, began helping around the house without being asked.

Hall posted an expletive-laden message on Facebook on 29 January, urging people to "just do it" rather than wait to be asked to help, and concluded by saying: "Just do the f***ing dishes without being asked once in a while mother f***ers."

It began after Hall received advice from a friend to "be specific" when she wants help because people are not mind readers. She wrote: "So I tried that, asking.. specifics. "Can you take the bin out?" "Can you get up with the kids? I'm just a little tired after doing it on my own for 329 years."

"Can you go to woolies? I've done three loads of washing and made breaky, lunch, picked up all the kids school books, dealt with the floating shit in the pond.

"And yeah, she was right... s**t got done. But I was exhausted, just keeping the balls in the air. Remembering what needs to be asked to be done, constant nagging. And do you know what happened the minute I stopped asking...? NOTHING. Again."

Hall then predicted the consequences when couples do not help each other out, writing: "Just think about each other, what it takes to run the god dam house. Is one of you working while the other puts up their feet? Is one of you hanging out with mates while the other peels the thirtieth piece of fruit for the day? Is one of you carrying the weight?

"Because when the nagging stops, when the asking dies down, when there are no more lists.... All your left with is silent resentment. And that my friends is relationship cancer."

The post was subsequently shared more than 100,000 times and received over 30,000 comments, many of which were in support of Hall's tirade.

Facebook user Simone Elle shared her marriage counsellor's motto: "Nobody sits until everybody sits." She wrote: "If there was work to be done, and one partner was up, the other was also up, doing what needed to be done. She couldn't save my marriage, but she taught me some awesome life lessons."

And Amber Rae said she also loathes the phrase "all you have to do is ask" in relationships. "Like, am I the only one in this house with f***ing eyes in my head? Can you not SEE dishes go in the dishwasher? Carpet needs a vacuum?! If I have to ask, forget it, I'll do it my f***ing self."

One week after writing her initial post, Hall revealed that the general reaction saw women backing her up and men telling her to "jump off a bridge" with one notable exception - her husband. For the whole week, he helped with all the chores without being asked.